


She Likes 'Em Young

by DrkVrtx



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-30
Updated: 2013-08-02
Packaged: 2017-12-06 23:13:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/741287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DrkVrtx/pseuds/DrkVrtx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While visiting the South Pole along with Korra and co., a certain someone has her predatory eye locked upon our favourite firebender. Can he withstand temptation and stay true to his girlfriend?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Mako was staring. He knew he was doing so, but he was finding it quite difficult to point his eyes in any other direction.

She was walking away from the table where they were all gathered, the subtle sashay of her hips stealing his attention, his breath, and apparently his ability to control other bodily reactions. He spared a moment to offer his sincere gratitude to whichever fine individual had tailored her clothes. They were more than suitable for the climate, but at the same time cut fluidly to hug to the shape of her body. The dark blue parka tucked in ever so slightly at her waist, curving gently down towards the awfully distracting swaying of her hips. She flicked a glance over her shoulder as she stepped into the doorway of the kitchen. Mako swallowed; he saw the corner of her mouth twitch upwards and a single eyelid fall in a quick wink.

His elbow was nudged then, and Mako remembered himself. Coughing, he turned his attention back to the table. Korra and Bolin, the latter sitting immediately opposite him whilst his girlfriend sat at his side, had paused in their animated conversation about noodles to look at him. It seemed one of them had been calling his name and he hadn't heard them.

"Bro," Bolin began with a curious eyebrow raised. "Were you just staring at Korra's mother?"

Mako's gaze widened before he could stop himself. When he had recovered his composure, he felt warmth rising to his cheeks when he glanced across and briefly met Korra's eyes.

"Were you?" she asked.

"Well, umm…"

They had caught him red-handed. Better to tell the truth – or at least the closest possible thing to the truth – than attempt to wheedle his way out with a lie. Mako wasn't the best liar anyway; Korra would always see through him.

"I'm just amazed at how much you resemble each other, babe," he directed at his girlfriend, smiling abashedly afterwards.

"Oh," Korra said, nonchalantly waving her hand in the air. "Everyone always says that. I really don't see it."

"You do look pretty alike," Bolin said. "Especially the eyes."

Oh, those eyes.

"And you have that same crooked smile," his brother added.

And wow, that smile.

"Come to think of it, you've got the same –"

"Alright, Bo. I get it," Korra laughed. "Like mother, like daughter. I get it."

_Like mother, like daughter…_

Perhaps that was the reason, then. Senna did indeed bear much of a resemblance to her daughter – and Mako rather enjoyed feasting his eyes upon Korra day after wonderful day. He loved the way of her dark skin dipped and curved into the defined lines of her muscle, and the way the flat pane of her stomach blossomed into the unmistakeable fullness of her chest. He loved to watch her when they were together at the gym. Korra was all but focused when it came to weight training, and so Mako had ample time to just sit there and stare at her deliciously thick thighs as her shorts clung to the meat of her glutes. Mako had never expected himself, then, to be so caught up by her mother's figure.

Where Korra was strong and athletic, Senna was softer, her form decidedly feminine even despite the fact that she concealed her body beneath more clothes than her daughter typically did. Her chest was not as full as Korra's, but the tuck of her waist and the slope of her hips and the enticing swell of her ass demanded Mako's attention, and his feeble attempts to resist were just that. Feeble.

Mako swallowed once more and brought an easy, casual smile to his face as Korra and Bolin resumed their earlier conversation, barely listening to them as they argued over the authenticity of Narook's cuisine compared with Senna's cooking. She had winked at him, and apparently no one else had seen it. What on earth did it mean? Perhaps that was something of a redundant question, Mako admitted. Senna had greeted them all enthusiastically when they turned up on her doorstep, but she had greeted him… _enthusiastically_.

It being only the second time he had been to the South Pole and stood inside Korra's home, Mako had been shocked speechless to have Senna embrace him rather fondly and rest her lips briefly on his cheek. He coughed once more and hoped no one would see the heat rising to his face as he remembered the way Senna's chest had pressed flush against him. He also remembered her hands very briefly dallying at his sides as she disengaged from him. The ghostly touch of her fingertips set his skin tingling for a few long moments afterward.

"Korra's been telling us all about you in her letters," Senna had said, smiling.

"All about me?" Mako had replied nervously.

"Mmhmm," Senna nodded, her vividly blue eyes sparkling. She had said nothing more as she then turned to greet Tenzin and his family.

"I didn't know you wrote letters," Mako whispered surreptitiously to his girlfriend.

Korra had shrugged. "No telephones here, City Boy."

Mako returned to the present as a child shouted gleefully at the end of the table, followed swiftly by the terse paternal tone of Tenzin reprimanding his eldest son. Something about ceasing his impassioned attempts to shove sea prunes up his sister's nose. Mako wasn't necessarily paying the most attention; Senna had just poked her head back into the room.

"Could someone help me with these trays?" she called.

Mako automatically looked up. Senna's lips were curved into a polite smile, gazing into the room at large and looking between them all for a volunteer. Mako glanced down just before her eyes had the chance to meet his. A moment later, he felt Korra poking him in the side.

"What?" he said, looking up.

"Come on," she said. "You should be jumping at the chance to help your girlfriend's mother out."

Mako balked. What did she mean? But then she said: "It'll look good on your report for when my dad comes back."

Mako's eyebrows arched. "My report?"

Korra smirked. "Gotta make a good impression for Daddy," she said. "Otherwise, he'll take you hunting."

Mako drew in his next breath carefully. "You sound a little too happy about that prospect."

"The entertainment value would be priceless," Korra said with a devilish smile. "Now, get going."

Mako glanced at his brother, Bolin's cheeks protruding from his face as he noisily sucked noodles into his mouth. Bolin gave something of a shrug before angling his eyes back to his food, utensils poised to all but empty the bowl in front of him. Senna, appearing to have heard his and her daughter's exchange as well as seeing Korra pushing Mako to get to his feet, beckoned to him.

"Come on, Mako," she said, smiling pleasantly, "just need you to take down a few things for me."

Mako gulped; Senna had that same way of making her eyes glitter with mischief as her daughter, except the gaze she momentarily fixed him with was so much more intense. Her eyes slowly dropped away from his after a moment in a way Mako could only describe as seductive, sparkling blue pools disappearing beneath curved lashes. The corners of her lips teased themselves into a smile, and Mako had to spare a moment to give certain nether regions a severe talking to. A sense of foreboding unease settled over him as he stood to his feet and made his way over to kitchen.


	2. Chapter 2

A wholesome aroma met his nostrils as he stepped into the kitchen space, and without his conscious thought Mako began to salivate. A subtle blend of spices perfumed the air and he drew in an appreciative breath. Senna was kneeling on the ground in front of a plain, rectangular stone structure, an open flame licking at the base of the round metal pots she was tending to.

"Smells good," he commented.

Senna looked up, offering him what appeared to be a genuine, harmless smile of appreciation for his words. To see it when prior to that moment she had been flicking him sultry curves of her lips disarmed him a little, but he decided fairly quickly that he liked it. A certain glow seemed to rise to her eyes, brightening them ever further and drawing him in like a moth to the flame. However, in the next moment, he was reminded that he ought to be cautious and to keep his thoughts reined in.

Her smile subtly changed as her eyes dropped a fraction, looking to the exposed flesh of his arm. Force of habit had him rolling his sleeves up past his elbows. Certainly, there was a slight chill in the air, but being a firebender, Mako instinctively brought a touch of heat to his skin. It was a trick his brother had always envied. He coughed when Senna's eyes momentarily dipped lower.

"What would you like me to help you with, ma'am?" he asked politely.

She laughed then, a soft and yet full chuckle as she waved her hand at him. "Don't call me that," she told him, "you'll make me feel old. Just call me Senna."

Mako's gaze shifted away, his hand rising to awkwardly scratch at the back of his head. "I – uh…I'll try to remember that," he said sheepishly.

She turned then and pointed up at a shelf affixed to the wall. "I just need you to take down those bowls for me," she said. "I don't know why Tonraq built these things so high. I usually get him to bring them down for me, but of course, my husband is not here right now."

She glanced at him as she spoke, her smile small and its suggestive meaning causing heat that had little to do with the flame burning at his core to rise to his cheeks. She almost made him think he had been hallucinating in the next moment, for her smile took on once more its genial nature. Mako gave a small shake of his head as though to clear it, moving around the woman to stand at her left side. He tilted his head up to the shelf Senna had indicated, lifting his arm to reach up for the lip of the bowls he could see poking out into the air. Senna's complaint was appreciated as he realised that even with his greater height, it was still difficult to grasp the bowls.

"Why did…your husband…build the shelf like…this?" he asked her, straining as he stretched out his arm and raised himself up onto the balls of his feet.

"I couldn't tell you," she replied, her voice trailing off in a manner that served to draw Mako's suspicions.

Slowly, the feeling that he was being watched intensified uncomfortably, and just before he managed to reach and take down the stack of bowls he turned his eyes to the side and caught Senna casting sidelong glances at him. Or rather, at his ass. She was stirring the contents of the pot in front of her with a large wooden spoon, her gaze shifting from it to him and her lips curving appreciatively. Mako almost pulled down the entire shelf in his rush to protect his rear end from those glimmering eyes.

"He – here," he said, holding out the stack of bowls to her. Again, her smile was once more pleasant and casual. "Just a moment," she said when he swiftly made as though to leave.

She took the bowls from him and he was left to stand there a little awkwardly as she placed them on a pair of trays that lay on the ground at her side. He watched as she filled them one at a time with a thick broth, pieces of meat breaking the surface and drifting lazily around the bowl. The bowls that occupied the second tray she filled with the broth alone; they were for the airbending family, Mako assumed.

"Alright," she said eventually, getting to her feet as she spoke, "take one of these inside for me, please?"

Mako nodded and began to move forward. Senna was turning away from the pots as he neared her. His many years on the streets and then his subsequent time spent as a Pro-Bender had sharpened his eye and refined his reactionary ability, so when he saw Senna's form tilt unnaturally as her heel caught a small rut in the ground, he moved without thinking. She gave a cry of surprise as she stumbled, arms thrown out wildly to stabilise herself. Mako caught her before she could fall.

"Are you alright, ma'am?" he asked.

She gave the softest chuckle – of relief, he was sure. He held onto her wrist with his left hand, and his right arm was curved around her waist. He was slow to realise that in the act of catching her, he had pulled her upright. The action served to draw her against him. She lifted her right hand and slowly tucked stray strands of hair behind her ear as she turned her face to him, tilting her eyes upwards.

"Well, aren't you a gentleman?" she said quietly.

The ability to breathe seemed to have gone for leisurely stroll as she smiled at him. This close to her, he could appreciate the soft pink of her lips and the small dimple of her left cheek. He could smell the spices upon her, infused with a pleasant, subtle aroma that was decidedly feminine, sweet and tantalising to his senses. Her sparkling blue eyes trapped him, pulling him into the depths of their pools. Senna moved inconspicuously; she was a warm and comfortable weight against him, and something about the way her body nestled into the curve of his arm felt… _good._

It was this thought that sprang his fingers open at her wrist and detached his arm from around her waist – and not a moment too soon, for in the doorway appeared his girlfriend.

"Is everything alright in here?" Korra asked, seeing Mako crouching down and lifting a laden tray into his hands. "Sounded like someone was falling."

"It's alright," Senna said as she smoothed down the front of her parka. "You would have found me on the floor if your charming friend hadn't caught me."

Korra smirked after a moment as Mako stood to his feet. "You're scoring a lot of points today, huh," she said to him.

Mako's cheeks reddened and he glanced away. "I…I suppose," he replied.

"I guess you're this much closer to avoiding that hunting trip," she said, holding up her hand and showing him the small distance separating her finger and thumb.

"Stop making your father look bad," Senna chided her daughter, slapping her on the arm. "And since you're here, you can take the other tray for me."

Korra groaned and rolled her eyes, moving into the kitchen.

Mako's gait was awkward as he shuffled carefully passed Senna. But as Korra crouched down to pick up the remaining tray, her back momentarily to them both, her mother's smile grew mischievous. Mako yelped and positively fled from the room when he felt a hand lightly pat his backside.


	3. Chapter 3

Senna chuckled softly as the boy gave a squeak of surprise and almost broke into a run to escape her. Korra turned and looked over her shoulder, a puzzled look on her face.

"What's so funny?" her daughter asked.

Senna gave a dismissive wave of her hand and smiled. "Oh, it doesn't matter, darling," she told her. "Be careful with the tray, now," she said as Korra rose to her feet and the bowls began to inch down the slanted surface. Senna stepped backwards to let Korra pass her, the girl still complaining about being laden with work.

"You're acting as though I asked you to cook," she said in response to Korra's mumbling.

"I was in the middle of a conversation," her daughter huffed.

"Yes, well, other people were occupied just as much as you," Senna said lightly.

"Huh?"

"Hmm?"

"What are you talking about?"

"The food," Senna said, pointing to the pots. "It doesn't cook and serve itself."

Korra arched her brow in confusion before huffing and turning away. "Whatever."

Senna watched her daughter stomp out of the kitchen, smirking deviously as she watched her back disappear. Occupied indeed; it had been quite the while since she had felt such a thrill. Her skin tingled with the anticipation. The boy was tall, striking and, she recalled pleasantly, _quite_ comfortable to lean against. Her body settled into his as though the two had been crafted for each other. But he was taken of course, by her daughter. Ah, but that was perhaps the detail that sparked the hottest flame within her.

Senna stepped through into the main room, sounds of conversation and the clatter of bowls filling the circular space. She moved over to the table and retook her seat next to the boy's brother, who fired compliments to the chef in her direction almost immediately whilst filling his mouth with the broth. She smiled sweetly and thanked him, but her eyes were only for Mako. Korra was at the other end of the table, passing bowls to the airbending family. Her attention was very much occupied as the eldest son launched himself forwards to steal more than his allotted portion.

"Could you pass me the bread, dear?" she asked, watching the heat rise to Mako's face as he swallowed and gave a small nod accompanied by an awkward smile. Senna almost chuckled aloud; he handled the large bowl as though it were the most fragile thing he had ever laid his hands upon. His brother was busy slurping away at her broth as she took the bowl. His eyes were pointed down at the table when she accepted it, and she watched them widen fractionally as she allowed the tips of her fingers to brush along his. She smiled innocently when he gave a pointed cough and his brother looked up.

Korra returned then, positively flopping down onto the floor and planting her elbows on the low table. "I'm going to kill Meelo in his sleep one day," she muttered irritably, looking down at the small stain just above her chest. She picked at it with a huff.

"Here," Mako said, licking the pad of his thumb, "hold still."

Senna was very much amused by the sequence of events that followed. Mako leaned over to her daughter, clearly intent on rubbing at the stain with his prepared digit. It occurred to him belatedly however where exactly the stain was located and whose company he was presently in. He gave a hesitant pause, his gaze flicking across to her as Korra pulled the fabric of her top tight.

"I, uh, maybe I shouldn't," he said then as Senna lowered her eyes to her bowl, hiding her smile.

Her daughter made a noise of annoyance. "Then why'd you suggest it in the first place?"

"I would, but…" he began, trailing off weakly. Senna glanced up to see him jerk his chin in her direction.

"For goodness' sake, Mako," Korra hissed. "Stop being silly. You're just cleaning a stain, not fondling my tits."

Senna couldn't contain her chuckle this time. Mako blushed profusely as his brother choked in surprise at Korra's trademark bluntness. She reached over and patted him sharply between the shoulders, lifting her eyes and offering a smile of encouragement to her daughter's boyfriend. It seemed he was able to bear that rather than Korra's impatient frown, unable to meet her daughter's eyes as he set to work.

"Thanks," Bolin coughed beside her, eyes watering as he thumped his chest.

Senna gave a small shrug. "Letting you die at the dinner table would bring a terrible curse upon us all," she said with an air of mysticism.

"Yeah," Bolin agreed all the same. "At least let me taste all of your wonderful cooking first, ma'am."

She thanked him once more. She then offered Mako the slightest smirk when he glanced up at her. She hadn't given his brother permission to use her name.

"That'll have to do for now," Korra said then, giving a sigh as she looked down at the faded stain. She leaned over and pecked Mako on the cheek. "Thanks."

His smile was both pleased and awkward as Korra resumed her conversation with Bolin, tucking into her own food at last. Senna looked down to her bowl as he lapsed into silence. Their seating arrangement made it so that though Mako was opposite her, he was situated more to her right than straight ahead of her. Senna's thighs shifted subtly for a few moments as she pulled her foot out of its thick, heavy boot. She didn't look up as she raised her leg, ensuring that she didn't brush along and alert his brother or accidentally find her daughter's limbs. She found him soon enough however. It was difficult for her to school her expression as he suddenly and noticeably stiffened.

She was wearing two thick layers of socks and there was a slight rustle of friction as she ghosted her foot up the length of his calf. The conversation between his brother and her daughter had once again become animated however, and further along the table the children of the airbending family only added to the constant hum of noise. Senna gave a small smile when Mako swallowed and attempted to move his leg. But when they all sitting on the ground cross-legged, such movement was difficult to make and keep obscured. Such as it was, Mako's leg barely moved and soon her toes were reaching past the curve of his knee.

He looked up at her, eyes pleading as the sole of her foot met his inner thigh. She smiled innocently, lifting her hands to break bread as she slowly inched her foot forwards. He made a desperate move as she neared the junction of his thighs: his posture straightened and then arched as though he were stretching his back, his hand moving down to scratch his stomach.

"You done, bro?" Bolin asked then, eyes dipping to his brother's half full bowl.

"Uh, yeah," Mako said quickly as he tried to relocate Senna's foot as subtly as possible.

Bolin pointed. "Can I have the rest?"

"S-sure," Mako said as Senna pressed insistently against his resistance.

"You alright?" Korra asked, glancing at him as his hips suddenly bucked.

"I'm good," he replied, his voice a pitch higher than usual as he attempted to disguise the movement as another stretch. "Just feeling _really_ full is all. C-compliments to the chef."

"Why, thank you," Senna said, taking care to smile innocently as she spoke. "I always do my best to take care of guests."

Mako barely contained his yelp. "I can – see – that."

Korra glanced between them with a raised eyebrow then; Senna sensed danger and withdrew her foot. Mako almost sagged with relief, though the way he sat afterwards was a little awkward. Bolin was too busy reaching over to consume his brother's portion to notice the incremental rise of tension in the air. Tenzin getting to his feet a few moments later kept Korra's interrogative questions at bay.

The monk stood tall and bowed his shaven head in Senna's direction. "Thank you for your hospitality, it is greatly appreciated."

"Of course," Senna replied. "I would never dream to refuse my daughter's guardian and mentor a seat in my home."

"We will be leaving for the time being," Tenzin said, indicating his family. "We are going to visit the children's grandmother. We should be back in a few hours to pick you up before returning to the city," he added, speaking to Korra and the brothers, all of whom nodded. Mako looked positively relieved at the prospect.

But who is to say that things would go according to plan?

Senna's ears perked as she heard a particular gust of wind; she'd lived for long enough to know when a blizzard was coming.


	4. Chapter 4

It was decidedly quiet once Tenzin and his family had taken their leave. It became apparent to all just how much noise the four – or perhaps three as Jinora was a peaceable girl – children could make. In their absence, the remaining inhabitants of the igloo fell into something of an awkward silence. Bolin and Korra no longer seemed as enthusiastic to discuss noodles between them. Mako was looking down at his hands, lightly drumming his fingers on the table. Senna lifted her eyes and surveyed them all. She lifted a hand to tuck loose strands of hair behind her ear before speaking.

"Well, I think we may as well start clearing up. Everyone seems to be more or less finished."

The airbending family had been insistent upon clearing away their own plates, bowls and cutlery, but Senna had been persistent in her refusal to let them. They were her guests after all. She stood to her feet first. Mako planted his palms to the table as though to push himself up, but then he appeared to notice that Korra and Bolin hadn't yet moved. She saw him hesitate to rise, perhaps thinking that he might look overly eager to help.

"Come on, kids," she said, giving a huff. "You aren't going to leave all of this to me now, are you?"

"Sorry, ma'am," Bolin apologised quickly, tucking the last of his, or rather Mako's noodles between his lips before getting to his feet. His brother mirrored him a few moments later. Korra merely stretched and then glanced down towards the end of the table. Seeing the amount of things sitting there waiting to be cleared up, she announced that she couldn't be bothered.

"Stop being lazy," Mako chided her. "You're going to let guests tidy up in your own home?"

Korra closed her eyes and arched her back, pushing her arms high above her head. The action served to thrust her chest forward into the air. She had a habit of stretching like that. Mako had quickly made it a habit of appreciating the view. That view was all the more enticing given the fact that he was standing over her. Korra cracked one eye open and caught him looking. She smirked. But then he remembered her mother and his cheeks flushed with heat as he tore his eyes away – with some difficulty. It was a damn good view.

"Come on," he said, poking the toe of his boot into her side.

"Alright. _Fine_ ," she replied when he became insistent.

Senna clapped her hands together. "Good, good," she remarked. "It won't take long since we're all chipping in."

That it didn't. The table was cleared in no more than five minutes, Bolin doing more than his portion and slipping leftover noodle strands into his mouth. "What?" he said defensively when Mako frowned at him, "you can't leave food this good to waste, bro."

"Right," was all his brother said in reply.

"Well, that's that," Korra said once the table was spotless. "I need to go and check on Naga."

"Bolin, could you set the tables over there?" Senna said, pointing as she spoke. "Mako can help me wash the dishes," she finished brightly.

Mako, who was standing with his hands thrust into his pockets, immediately stiffened.

"I – uh – I'll help Bolin, actually," he began.

"Don't be silly, darling. That's a one man job!" Senna said, chuckling. "Besides, it's not every day I have a helpful firebender under my roof. You can dry the dishes for me."

Mako noticeably grew uncomfortable with the endearing term she had used for him. Senna moved towards him then, lifting a hand to tug him along in her wake. Her daughter beat her to the punch.

"Mako can help me instead," Korra said, closing her grip firmly around his wrist.

Her mother raised her brow. "To check on Naga? Surely that's unnecessary."

Korra shook her head. "Republic City spoiled her some. She's become a handful."

"Alright," Senna said after a moment. "If you say so. The help would have been welcome, though."

"Yeah. Well anyway, come on," Korra told Mako, pulling him after her. He glanced back towards her mother, who had affected a look of disappointment. He was torn as her shoulders slumped fractionally and she began to turn away. His attention was diverted back to Korra when a parka hit him squarely in the face. "Put it on," she said, shoving her arms into her own. Once he had, she practically dragged him through the front door.

Firebender or no, parka or not, outside was _cold_. Mako's cheeks were stinging as an arctic wind ruffled his hair. Korra led him around to the side of the igloo. Naga was sitting on her haunches, dutifully waiting for her master. Mako hung back and watched quietly as Korra moved forwards and lifted her hand to the polar bear dog's snout. Naga bowed her great head and made a soft noise of contentment as Korra affectionately scratched behind her ears. Mako waited. A sense of mounting apprehension began to steal over him as Korra refused to turn and face him. She had pulled him outside with a decidedly no-nonsense attitude. Mako feared the words that would be on her tongue when she at last spoke to him.

"You've been acting strange ever since we got here," she said. "Are you alright?"

Mako was surprised to hear a tone of concern in her voice. He had been expecting something akin to an interrogation when she folded her arms. "I'm fine," he said.

"You looked pretty uncomfortable at the table."

"I – I was just feeling full. You know me, I like to get up and move around after I've eaten. But, you know, table manners," he said, smiling sheepishly.

"Hmm," she said.

"Can I ask you something?" he asked.

"Sure."

"What have you been writing in your letters about me?"

Korra smirked then. "Don't worry. It's nothing that makes you look bad."

He found that he didn't like what her expression suggested. "Your, um, your mother seemed to think that you've been telling her…everything."

Korra smiled.

"Define 'everything'," he pleaded.

"Don't worry," she said again. "It's just girl talk."

"Girl talk?" Mako repeated, and at this something of an understanding came to him. "Korra, you…please tell me you haven't been –"

"Things work differently with us Water Tribe folk," she cut across him. "Villages are much too small for everyone to not know each other. We don't waste time with secrets."

About that he wasn't so sure.

A sinking feeling began to develop in his stomach as he considered her words. "So…so you told your mother about the time when I -?"

"Yeah."

"And the time when you –"

"Yup."

"Do you even know what I'm talking about?" Mako huffed, a little irritated at being interrupted time and again.

"The time when you went down on me and I almost tore the women's dormitory in half when I came," Korra supplied nonchalantly. "And the first time I saw your little soldier stand to attention and couldn't believe how big you were."

She didn't blush or bat an eyelid as she spoke. Mako on the other hand turned red.

"You told your mother about that?" he whined, and then fear struck him. "You told your _father_?!"

"I said it was girl talk," Korra reiterated. "Dad never had the patience for writing and reading. I write a letter for my mom to read to him, and then one just for her eyes."

"That's…that's not the kind of thing you tell your mother. I'd rather you tell _Asami_ than her."

When she didn't speak and he looked at her expression, Mako blanched. "You didn't. Please tell me haven't."

She tortured him with silence for a few moments more. "Relax. Asami barely has the time to speak to any of us anymore, anyway."

"But…your _mother_ , Korra," he began.

"Deal with it," she told him. He sighed in defeat and lowered his eyes, scuffing the toe of his boot along the frozen ground. "Can I ask you something?" she asked then.

When he looked at her, apprehension crept up on him once more.

"What do you think of my mother?"

"I think she's nice," he answered slowly.

"Mako."

"Very nice?" he tried.

" _Mako._ "

He started to back up as she advanced on him. "A wonderful woman with amazing cooking –"

"I saw the looks you were giving her at the table," she said. She was standing in front of him, arms folded as he backed up against the wall of the igloo. Naga was at her side and the polar bear dog gave a menacing growl.

"What – what looks?" he stammered.

"Don't pull that with me, Mako. I of all people know how much of a pervert you are." Korra clicked her fingers and suddenly Naga was in his face, long, curved teeth very much visible. "Answer the question," she told him.

"Alright, alright!" he said, lifting his hands in defeat. "I think your mom's ho – uh, I think your mother is a beautiful woman," he amended. He quickly added: "But you're even hotter."

He began moving his arms surreptitiously to guard his face, expecting some kind of physical reprimand as Naga breathed hotly upon him. However, Korra remained still, bringing a hand to rest at her chin as she turned her eyes towards the ground. She hummed as though in thought.

"I see," she said eventually. "I guess I can't fault you for appreciating something."

Mako stared in bemusement as Korra patted the polar bear dog on the back and Naga immediately began nuzzling her wet nose against his cheek.

"I…you're okay with me thinking that?"

Korra shrugged as Naga finished showing him affection. "I can't exactly stop you. It's innocent enough, I guess," she said, and then her gaze narrowed. "So long as you aren't planning on doing anything else."

Mako's hands were in the air in an instant. "Nope. Nothing at all. Just looking. In fact, I'll even stop looking." He lowered his hands when she chuckled. "I just…wasn't expecting…" he trailed off, not knowing how to or whether in fact he should finish the sentence. Korra picked up the tail end of it for him.

"What, you thought I'd have an old crone for a mother?" she said with a lopsided smile.

Mako thought that he would prefer it if she did. But of course, that wasn't the right answer to give. "No," he said, shaking his head. "But at least now I can see why you're so gorgeous."

Korra arched her brow. "Spirits, that was lame," she said. "Appreciated, but lame."

"I try, babe."

She gave a sigh as she shook her head. "Come here, you."

Naga gave a low whine, turning away when Korra stepped towards him and looped her arms over his shoulders. Her thick parka meant that his hands couldn't travel where they were often wont, but her lips were just the same, if a little chill. When they parted, she gazed at him sternly.

"Just do me a favour and remember which of us is your girlfriend, Mako. Try to stop acting like an idiot before you give my mother the wrong impression. I don't think you want her telling my dad that she thinks you might be attracted to her."

"No," Mako said, laughing weakly, "I wouldn't want that."

She patted his chest. "Good." Afterwards, she turned her eyes skyward when a fierce gust of wind staggered them. "Hmm. That doesn't look good."

Mako followed her gaze. "What? What's wrong?"

She pointed. "Looks like a storm's brewing. Tenzin had better get back here soon if he wants to leave tonight."

"Why?"

Korra gave him a look that questioned his intelligence. "Do you think Oogi will be able to fly in a blizzard?"

Slowly, it dawned on him. "How…how long would it last?" he asked carefully.

She gave a shrug. "Couldn't tell you. But if Tenzin doesn't come back in the next hour, we might be stuck here."

Stuck. Here. With his girlfriend's mother, whose intentions towards him were all but becoming clearer with each passing minute. Possibly for days.

Oh, this did not look good. Not at all.


	5. Chapter 5

He lay in the dark, his eyes following the curve of the wall as it became the dome of the ceiling. The wind was a dull roar, and though it sought them, it could find no gaps in the walls of the igloo. Nevertheless, it was still chill, and Mako was wrapped in his bearskin quilt. He and his brother were sleeping in the main living space of the igloo, Korra having fashioned raised shelves of ice along the wall rather than have them sleep on the floor. Mako hadn't understood the need until she explained something complicated about cooler air settling and warmer air rising; in short, were he and Bolin to sleep on the floor, they'd likely wake up dead. At least that was how she put it.

He felt a little light headed and couldn't fall asleep as readily as his brother had done. Bolin's soft snores kept him company, in fact. So too did the memory of Senna's devious, knowing smirk. His heart had never known such lament as when he heard the winds picking up speed and looked outside to see everything in sight blanketed by a flurry of snow. He was trapped, and what was worse was that there was nowhere in the igloo he could hide to avoid seeing his girlfriend's mother. All the while, as Korra and Bolin had devised ways to keep them all occupied, Senna was there, smiling innocently when attention was upon her and then not so innocently when his gaze met hers.

At last, she had deemed it time for them to get to bed, but not before stirring up a steaming mug of hot chocolate for them each. Bolin wondered aloud how such a thing had come to be in the South Pole, and Senna explained briefly the growth of importing and exporting in recent years as the Southern Water Tribe continued its recovery. Mako hadn't been paying as much attention to the answer as his brother. The beverage seemed to make him melt, flooding his body with warmth more completely than his own inner flame. His tongue had tingled with its flavour.

Mako sighed and pressed his eyes shut, willing himself to sleep. After a whole day of being on edge, his mind and body craved rest, and he hoped that his light-headedness would pass in the process. He briefly contemplated the earlier confrontation with Korra, remembering how his heart had pumped fear through his veins. He was afraid that she'd caught onto what was going on between him and Senna. Fortunately, she hadn't realised the part her mother was playing. Mako couldn't imagine how she would have reacted to the truth, and there had been times throughout the long, torturous day that he was glad she couldn't read his mind. He slipped into unconsciousness as he guiltily remembered the subtle sashay of Senna's hips.

Relative silence persisted within the igloo for a while. The wind outside raged, screaming at the thick, unrelenting walls. A shadow appeared at the doorway to the room where a mother and her daughter peacefully slept, except now it was only the daughter who slumbered.

Senna paced quietly into the living room. As if the rushing wind was not blessing enough, the boy's brother was snoring. He was as deep a sleeper as her daughter. She could see that Mako had fallen asleep too, his form curled beneath the thick quilt and his face turned to the wall. She anticipated no interruption.

Mako's dream was inconsistent and barely tangible. At one point, Korra was yelling at him, infuriated beyond measure. At another, she was beckoning to him, her grin crooked and eyes heated. Something of a smile was on his own lips as he felt a weight descend lightly upon him. Slowly, as the clutches of sleep weakened, he opened his eyes. A bright blue gaze hovered above him. Her hair, unbound and dark, framed her face. Her smile was slight, her lips curving more to the left. He returned it, insensible in his moment of waking.

"Korra," he murmured.

She smirked and he heard the rustle of her parka as she moved her arm. She flicked him on the tip of the nose as she whispered.

"You can't tell the difference between us?"

The realisation dawned upon him slowly, his mind dragging its feet through the mud. Korra's smile typically curved to the right; her hair was chestnut brown, not black; her muscular, athletic form lent to her a much more definite sense of weight, and she never had a problem pinning him down. This woman in front of him then – woman, not a girl on the cusp of adulthood – was most certainly not Korra. Mako lurched, startled. Senna caught his arms by the wrist when he flailed in panicked surprise.

"Senna –"

"Shh," she said, releasing one of his hands to place a finger lightly to her lips. She winked afterwards.

"What are you doing?" he asked, swallowing a thick lump.

"I came to check up on you," Senna replied softly. "That's all."

Her voice, so gentle and soothing, for a moment lulled him into trusting her words. But then Mako squirmed when she lowered her hand to his chest. Unlike Bolin, he hadn't worn a parka while he slept, and he was very much aware of the presence of Senna's touch through his jacket.

"I was so cold, so lonesome," she whispered. "But you...you're so warm."

Speechlessness took Mako as her hand began to move, inching towards the exposed skin of his throat. Her eyes were hooded, their seductive glimmer stealing his breath. The last thing to have rendered him truly incapable of speaking was the time he stumbled upon Korra naked as the day she was born. The thought of his girlfriend, a mere few strides away in another room, inspired fight within his limbs. Senna was sitting at his side while she leaned over him, and he tried to curve his body away from her. His back almost immediately met the cold wall, and when he lifted a hand to try and move Senna's she caught his wrist once more. She leaned close, much closer this time.

"If you keep struggling, you're going to wake up your brother," she told him, smiling all the while, "maybe even Korra, too. You wouldn't want them to see us like this, would you?"

"Don't do this. Please," he begged as though pleading for his life.

"I just want a taste," she said, glancing down to his lips when she spoke.

Mako's heart threw itself painfully against its cage as he heard her voice. It was but a whisper and yet the sensual tone she evoked sent an unmistakeable thrill running down his spine. He became acutely aware of the weight of Senna's form, of the proximity of her lips, and of the traitorous reaction of his body. Blood was rushing in the wrong direction, and it did nothing to ease his light-headedness.

Senna only smiled as she looked down at him. She was by no means as physically capable as her daughter, and she could feel the strength in Mako's arms as she held them down. By all right, he should have thrown her off by now. But he wouldn't. She had supplemented his mug of hot chocolate with a special, harmless tincture. It was a recipe handed down through the generations of her family, from mother to daughter, purposed to make one's husband more agreeable where they would normally raise an argument. Mako was well and truly in its grip.

"Please," he said again.

"Just once," she told him. "Just once, and I promise I'll leave you alone."

His adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed. His eyes flitted between her lips and her eyes and then past her entirely, looking in the direction of his brother. When he looked back to her, Senna didn't give him any more time to think about it. She felt his body stiffen against her as she leaned down.

It was better than he could have ever imagined – and in his weaker moments, for a split second, he had imagined it. She kissed him chastely, almost tentatively, but there was no room left in Mako's mind for doubt. Senna knew what she was doing. Despite the minimum of contact she kept, her lips eased heat and comfort into his body. His rigid posture relaxed and his mouth could not remain still for long. Before he truly realised it, he began to return the kiss.

Senna felt his lips begin to move and experienced a thrill. She had hoped rather than expected that he would reciprocate; she couldn't be sure how exactly he would react to her tincture. It became evident in an instant that he was practised, his mouth moving in gentle time with hers. His lips were soft, pleasant, and she found herself unwilling to part from them. This moment, this electricity that set her skin tingling, was something she had been denied for too long. But she had promised him only one. The wind roared without the walls; there was time still. She didn't need to throw all her cards down just yet. When she at last drew away from the kiss however, a voice at the back of her mind instinctively whispered that she was in trouble. Eyes, gold and narrow, simmered with heat and impatience.

His left hand rose, breaking her grip. Mako didn't know what had overtaken him, but he knew one thing for certain: desire. He wanted to experience those lips again, to give himself to a kiss so sweet it defied reason. Sensibility was thrown out the window in the face of that need. Senna was rising, moving away from him, but he grabbed hold of her parka and tugged her down. His light-headedness became as a voice that he pushed to the corners of his mind and ignored as he met her mouth once more.

He was insistent, craving her, and Senna delighted in his boldness. She hadn't felt so desired in years. His kiss was hungry this time, and she opened her mouth to his tongue. Her fingers were sliding through his hair, enjoying the feel of the thick texture between them. She felt her resolve waning as their kiss deepened, her patience melting away as heated thoughts spun wildly through her mind. It almost didn't matter that her daughter was mere moments away, that she could at any point wake up and stumble upon them.

And then his brother gave a snore that matched the rage of the wind.

They both started, deepening passion immediately transformed into alertness tinged with fear. As they parted lips, they heard an ominous rustling. Mako craned his neck as Senna turned to look behind her. In silence with hearts pounding, they watched Bolin shuffle beneath his quilt, turning over. Mako didn't breathe again until his brother at last fell still. When he did, he looked up at Senna as she turned to face him. It was impossible to read her expression; he didn't even know his own thoughts. A few moments later however, her typical suggestive smirk resurfaced. She leaned forward, as if to steal another kiss.

"Goodnight, Mako," she breathed against his lips instead. She stood to her feet, eyes sparkling with mischief as she regarded him, and then she stole away back to her room, as swift and silent as a shadow.

Mako stared after her for a long moment before slowly turning his eyes back up to the ceiling. With blood gathered at his loins, he wasn't sure whether he wanted to kill his brother or bless his existence with weeping and adulation.

He didn't want to think about what he had just done, but that was _all_ he could think of. His lips tingled as though hers were still upon them. His body remembered her comfortable weight, how he had curved and shifted himself so naturally to accommodate her. Before his mind's eye was nothing but her, her, her. And she was just there, in a room but a few strides away, feigning sleep as she lay next to her daughter, Korra. His girlfriend.

He would not rest easy this night, of that much he was certain.

* * *


	6. Chapter 6

"Where's Mako?"

Korra was standing in front of the bed, a concerned frown on her face. Bolin, barely having woken up, stared blankly at the empty spot where he was sure his brother had lain a few hours before.

"I have…no idea," he said uncertainly.

"Didn't you hear him get up?" Korra asked him.

Bolin shook his head, lifting a hand to quickly stifle an inappropriately timed yawn. Korra's frown deepened as she looked down at the ruffled, cast aside quilt. Her hair fell thick and unbound to her shoulders, yet to be swept up into her typical ponytail. She had woken early and crept out of her room to wake up her boyfriend with a pleasant surprise. He often commented that he loved her hair when it was down, and on several occasions she had snuck into the men's dormitory back on Air Temple Island at the crack of dawn, there to find and tease him from slumber with feather-light kisses. This morning, however, she only found an empty bed.

Where could he have gone? Korra thought, one hand sitting at her hip whilst the other scratched the back of her head. She turned and looked around the room, but she already knew such a search was in vain. Her family's igloo was not a large place.

"Maybe he went to check up on Naga," Bolin suggested, cracking another yawn as he sat up.

"Hmm. Worth checking out, I guess," Korra replied, and no sooner had she spoken was she pulling on her parka, concern still evident upon her features.

Chill air surged into the igloo as she pulled open the front door, and as it snapped shut in her wake Senna emerged into the room. Her hair was already sitting along her shoulders in the form of thick twin braids, and her eyes turned from the door to Bolin and the empty bed beside him, frowning in the likeness of her daughter when she saw it.

"Where is your brother?" she asked politely.

Bolin couldn't help but shrug, beginning to feel a little worried. Senna pursed her lips, and just a few moments later the front door was flung open. Korra stood there, her hair dusted with snow and her expression confused. She stepped inside as the wind gave a muted shout.

"He's not there?" Bolin asked the obvious question.

Korra shook her head. "I can't believe he's just upped and vanished, especially in this weather."

"It doesn't sound as bad as it did last night," Bolin said after a moment.

"It'll pick up again," she promised him, "and if Mako gets himself lost in that…" Korra trailed off, shaking her head as annoyance spread across her face.

"You should go out and look for him," Senna suggested, folding her arms. "Naga will be able to help, right?"

Korra looked at her mother, impatience upon her features. "Of course we're going to do that. I'm not going to let that idiot get himself killed by a blizzard. I'm going to murder him with my own hands."

Bolin chuckled nervously as he pushed aside his quilt and stood to his feet. Senna offered an encouraging smile.

"I'm sure he can't have gone too far," she said. "I'll wait here, in case he comes back before you find him."

"Yeah," Korra said, taking Bolin by the arm and pulling him towards the door. "Hold him down if he does come back before us, mom. I want to beat some sense into him."

Senna merely smiled and watched them disappear through the front door.

She took herself over to the shelf of ice that had served as his bed as silence settled upon the room, lowering herself to sit at its edge. She looked down at the tangled quilt, imagining how he must have tossed and turned to get it into such a state. Running her touch lightly over the fur, Senna recalled the texture of his hair between her fingers, thick and begging to be gripped.

It had taken her some time to fall asleep after she left his side, the vestiges of the thrill that overtook her creeping along her skin. Even now, Senna's lips tingled with the memory of his upon them. Her heart had drummed as though she were a precious little girl once more when he pulled her down to him. Oh, how close she was – how close they had both been – to casting aside inhibitions and patience respectively and indulging in one another.

Senna closed her mind's eyes and envisioned him as she had throughout the night in shameless delight. She imagined the sculpted perfection of his young body, the defined muscles of his chest firm beneath her fingertips. She saw him looming over her, a confident smirk upon his lips as he easily pinned her arms to the ground. She almost groaned aloud right there at the image that followed afterwards: his talented mouth upon her flesh, tracing a hot, moist path along her throat, downwards…downwards…

A short series of knocks upon the door drew Senna from her imaginative indulgence. Rising to her feet, she wondered who it could be. She knew who she hoped it would be.

And it was.

He stood there when she pulled the door open, wrapped up in a parka with his hands shoved deeply into its pockets.

"Oh," Senna remarked, surprised despite her hoping. "Mako." She stood aside to let him pass. "Korra and your brother have gone looking for you."

He didn't respond to her, moving into the room with an uncertain stride. She pushed the door shut as he drew his hands from his pockets. He stood at the centre of the room, seeming to deliberate whether to turn to her or gaze at the floor. In the end, his eyes appeared to settle somewhere in between.

"Where did you disappear to, then?" Senna asked as his gaze lingered at her feet.

Mako took a moment to answer. "I needed a cold shower. You don't have them here though, so I had to look for the next best thing."

"A leisurely stroll through blizzard conditions?"

Mako grimaced.

"And what made you do that?"

He looked up at her, and then glanced around the room. "The…last night," he said eventually. "I've been thinking."

"So have I," Senna said.

Mako swallowed, his eyes flitting from her face and back to her feet. "I can't stop thinking about it."

Senna said nothing this time, though it was difficult to temper her smile. Mako took a deep breath and then looked up at her.

"Senna, we…if Bolin hadn't…"

He gave pause and his throat grew tight when he saw her unfold her arms and begin to loosen the buttons of her parka. In utter silence save for the intermittent gusts of wind beyond the igloo walls, he watched her push each of the thick buttons through their holes, right up until her fingers reached the last just below her neck and the parka spilled open. Her eyes lifted to meet his then, and he was trapped. Slowly, Senna began to shrug the thick garment from her shoulders, exposing with each small movement the feminine form beneath. The parka fell to the ground with a whisper, rustling as it pooled around her feet.

She was left standing in a markedly thinner long sleeved top, pale blue in colour, and Mako couldn't help but stare.

"What are you doing?" he managed to force out as Senna began to approach him.

Her gait was slow and measured, and she exuded confidence with each step she took towards him. His eyes fell to her hips as they swayed with a subtle, almost absentminded grace. He traced the curve of her waist, swallowing as he remembered catching her before she could fall, his arm circling around and pulling her body against his. How good that felt. How naturally the way she settled against him. How difficult it had been for him to let go.

Upwards his gaze travelled, to a chest that was not as bountiful as her daughter's but did not in any way diminish the perfection of the woman before him. The softer swell of her breasts complemented her lithe, slender form, and with the way the top clung to Senna's body, Mako found himself utterly entranced. And then she was standing in front of him, all mischievous blue eyes and seductively curved lips.

"Mako," she breathed.

Oh, he wished she hadn't done that. Her voice, soft and sensual, spoke directly to the desire that he had thrust himself into the freezing cold to try and dampen.

"It's a little chilly," Senna said, reaching up to his buttons. "I seem to have misplaced my parka," she continued, gently loosening his about his neck. "Won't you help me stay warm?"

_Spirits…_

He couldn't push words beyond his lips as she loosened a second button and then a third, all the while gazing into his eyes, her smile crooked. He managed it eventually when she reached for the fourth, her hands near his stomach.

"Senna, you have a husband. I'm…seeing your daughter…"

His voice weakened, shaking as she leaned forwards and brought her lips to his throat. His weak spot; how had she found it so easily?!

"What they don't know…won't hurt them," Senna whispered against his flesh. She allowed her lips to linger momentarily against his throat with each open-mouthed kiss, siphoning away his flagging desire to resist.

His arms were tightly held against his side as she reached down and split his parka open entirely. She wanted them around her body, drawing her into him with the same impatience he had displayed during the night. She pushed beneath the open parka, her hands finding his waist. They moved slowly around to the small of his back, thereafter turning south and sliding eagerly down the fabric of his jacket. Senna heard the catch of his breath when her hands settled upon his tight little ass. She gave a hum of appreciation as she kissed his jaw, chuckling low and softly as she pushed him forwards and felt him against her thigh.

"Senna," he said then, voice ragged.

"Yes?" she answered, leaning away so that she could meet his gaze. The heat in his eyes struggled to be free of the last of his restraints.

"You won't…you won't tell anyone?"

Senna shook her head. "It'll be our little secret."

Mako swallowed the lump in his throat, his flesh tingling in the wake of her kisses.

"Just once," he managed to say, echoing her promise.

He forgot to realise how long that promise had lasted.

Blood had long since rushed to more important places. His powers of thought had long since been lost to the insensible hunger for the woman pressed against him.

"Okay," she whispered.

Permission. At last. And he took it.

 


	7. Chapter 7

"You're so warm."

Senna spoke softly as she let her fingertips dance along the plane of his chest. Mako's arm curved around her shoulders as she lay beside him, drawing her against his body. She relished the heat that seeped from his very pores, basking in the warmth of a firebender's embrace. Similarly, Senna had enjoyed the experience of an altogether different heat, spreading through her limbs like a molten flame as she sat astride him. His eyes were narrow and gold, fierce and heavy with lust when he gripped her tightly. The ghost of his possessive touch fluttered against her hip, drawing an easy sigh from her lips.

The boy turned his head and settled his mouth over hers. Senna's teeth toyed with his lower lip, nibbling lightly before he drew away. She gave a playful mewl of discontent when he denied her another kiss, his mouth curving with humour.

"Lucky for us both," Mako said in reply to her earlier comment, "otherwise this might not've been all too pleasant."

They lay stretched out upon Senna's marital bed, naked as the day they were born. The heavy bearskin quilts beneath which they had writhed and felt frustratingly restrained lay bunched and ruffled at their feet. Mako had been the one to toss them away. Senna winced at the chill that raked its fingertips down the exposed skin of her back, but not for long. The boy took her into his arms, and pressed chest to chest with him she felt that phenomenon of warmth that his body exuded. Her eyelids fell with a soft breath when the subtle heat of his palms soothed her flesh.

"Pleasant?" she repeated then, her calf gliding slowly up the length of his shin. "Nothing more?"

"No, ma'am," Mako replied, the curve of his lips complimenting his teasing tone, "you were amazing."

"Now what have I told you about calling me that?" Senna asked with an arched brow, tracing the defined curve of his pectorals. She enjoyed the contrast of their skin, pale against dark, so different and yet so similar. Her touch upon his excited him as his did her, and she could not help but watch his sweat slickened flesh slide along hers. It was a tantalising sight, exotic and erotic, tightening the coils at the depths of her stomach. Senna felt so lewd when she looked down at him sitting between her thighs, her back arching with forbidden delight as he took her.

Mako softened the pout of her lips with another kiss, smiling afterwards. "Pardon my manners."

Senna hummed contemplatively. "I suppose I will. You are too cute to stay angry at for long."

"I think you are too. Cute I mean, especially when your hair is like this," and Mako lifted his hand from behind his head and caught one of her braids between his fingers. "It's so soft, Senna," he said, his thumb gently moving back and forth along the thick plait. She smiled like she was sixteen and smitten.

"I do take good care of it."

"I can tell," the boy said, lifting her braid to his lips with a sparkle in his gaze. "I bet you'll look great when you let it down, too."

Senna grinned and spoke with a low, sensual tone. "Your flattery is very much appreciated, my dear. Tell me more, and I might just indulge you."

Mako grinned in return, eyes gleaming as he turned on his side to face her and propped himself up on an elbow. She missed the immediate warmth of physical contact with his body, but was soothed by his fingertips tracing a path down from her shoulder to her hip.

"Your skin is so smooth, Senna. I can't believe how good it feels to touch you."

"Oh, you tease. Do go on."

"Your body is amazing. Everything right down to your cute little toes is perfect. You look so good naked. I could watch you like this all day."

"Oh, you're just saying that…"

"No, I mean it. I can't get enough of you. I can't take my eyes off you. I've been thinking about you ever since I got here, Senna. I wanted you so badly."

"And I you," she breathed in reply. "And now here we are."

She turned and lay on her back, looping her arms around Mako's neck when he covered her with his body. The mingled aroma of masculine youth and the sweat of their prior activities drew a lazy smile to her mouth.

"I have yearned after you for several months, my dear. The reports I have received of your exploits are _fascinating_."

The boy, balanced on his hands over her, smiled with delicious intent. "Which part exactly?"

"I hear you have an adventurous tongue," Senna replied lightly. "Won't you demonstrate its prowess for me?"

"Will you let down your hair for me?" Mako returned.

"I will consider it, if you please me."

He merely grinned in answer to her, his face withdrawing from before her eyes. It was soon settled before a readily agreeable location. Senna groaned like never before when he set himself to work.

It was a new and positively enthralling sensation, as though she was being borne up on the wings of the Spirits to a higher plane of existence. She had only ever dreamed of this before, blurring reality with fantasy as her husband had his plain old way with her. She despaired in her frustration, craving a man, a real man, who would sweep her off her feet and shatter the fetters that clung to her senses. She wanted to experience that rumoured high of fabled proportions, hearing of its power to disorientate and even blacken one's consciousness upon the blushing whispers of the village's women. But she would know it herself now; she was determined, rolling her hips almost without a thought and chewing hard upon her lip.

Senna found it harder to breathe the longer Mako attended to her desperate need. It was not long before she made good on the desire she had experienced during her night-time check-up of him, pulling on his thick, dark hair. She tugged his head forward as though trying to meld permanently with him. If her tight grip hurt him, Mako gave no sign of it. So she let him drive her steadily towards that blissful edge, turning, arching and shuddering all because of him. And no other thought was upon her mind but for that glorious moment when she at last peaked and witnessed the glow of sunlight anew over the horizon. And she could hear nothing else but her own deep, full moans, accompanied by his hungry grunts and the yapping of a polar bear dog.

Senna's eyes suddenly snapped open.

"Mako. Mako!" she hissed, reluctant but firm as she pulled him back. He looked up at her, bemused. "What's that noise?"

"What noise?" the boy complained. "It's just the wind." And Senna could see and _feel_ at her core the hunger with which he eyed her again. She almost let him move forwards, the promise and pleasure of his kiss momentarily dulling the sharpness of her will. But she knew better.

"Wait," she ordered him. "Listen."

And so they both fell into silence, and when they did, they heard it: Naga's voice punctuating the growl of the wind. And then a deep, booming tone that struck a bolt of fear through the young man between her legs; the voice of a man that most definitely did not belong to his brother. It was drawing closer by the moment. It was practically at the front door. Mako's eyes flashed wide when they snapped up to meet hers, and he vocalised her singular thought as a cold bolt of lightning shot up her rigid spine.

"Shit."


	8. Chapter 8

"Home sweet home!" her father boomed, somehow managing to project his voice over that of the wind, which was some feat indeed. He was one of the two surprises that had found them as she, Bolin and Naga went on the hunt for her errant boyfriend.

The first was the temporarily calmed blizzard suddenly finding its anger once more, with a fierce howl battering them with sharply chilling gusts of wind. Accompanying them came a thick flurry of snow, obscuring their vision so that Korra could barely see beyond her outstretched hands. Bolin, the least accustomed of the party to the arctic weather, had moaned both for the cold seeping into his bones and in uncertain fear of his life. Korra wanted to search for Mako regardless and especially because of the severe change in conditions. If he was caught out in this for long…she didn't want to think so grimly. Her ire had long since evaporated in the face of real worry.

Despite Bolin's complaints – which she really should have taken as a priority in the moment – and even Naga's nudging at her side, for the polar bear dog was acutely aware of the earthbender's wellbeing, Korra pushed on. She pushed on until a great dark shape stepped suddenly into her line of sight, appearing as though formed of the snowstorm itself.

Korra recognised her father in an instant; he had always been the largest man she ever laid eyes upon. He was wrapped in thick layers of blue, his fur-lined hood drawn up over his head in the likeness of her and Bolin. He took one look at them all and Korra found herself being steadily marched in the opposite direction, heedless of her words.

By the time they reached the familiar ground of their village, Korra was experiencing a number of emotions. She was apologetic towards Bolin for keeping him out in the blizzard, painfully concerned for the wellbeing of his brother and yet quietly hopeful that all was well and he was merely waiting for them on the other side of her front door.

Her father knocked hard on said door as Naga moved from her side and squeezed herself inside the makeshift home Korra had bent into being for her. It resembled a miniature igloo, and as Korra looked on the polar bear dog pushed a thick block of ice forward with her head and sealed the mouth of the structure against the wind. Beside her, Bolin was rubbing his gloved hands together, shoulders hunched. Korra frowned a few moments later, unknowingly mirroring her father, as no one came to answer the door. Surely her mother hadn't gone out into the blizzard too?!

Her father did not wait long before shoving the door open. He was a big man, and the door was not an immovable object. He did have to turn around and seal the splintered frame into a thick arch of ice afterwards with a little waterbending. Korra thought he could have been a little less heavy-handed with the whole affair. She certainly knew where she had inherited the trait from at least.

They turned to find the main living space empty. The twin shelves of ice that Bolin and his brother had slept on during the night were just as they had been before he and Korra left earlier on, ruffled bearskin quilts and all. The latter's frown deepened, bright blue eyes betraying the emotion that flashed through her as her heart clenched. She looked across to Bolin, whose innocent expression was painted with unease and confusion. Her father spoke into the silence from behind them, his bass tone filling the room whole.

"Where is your mother?"

She answered before Korra could.

"We're in here!"

We?

Korra was moving before she even realised it, Bolin not a moment behind her as she practically ran towards her parents' room. She came to a complete standstill as she crossed the threshold into it however. Her eyes widened so far they seemed at risk of popping out her skull. She barely registered Bolin slamming into her shoulder when her sudden stop caught him off guard. His eyes bugged out of his head in similar fashion when they saw what the room beheld.

His brother and Korra's mother were sitting at the edge of the bed together. That by itself was perhaps not so odd or much of a reason for the expressions of surprise that were being exhibited. That was caused by the fact that both were stark naked. Discarded clothes were scattered haphazardly on the floor around their feet.

Korra stared as her mother held her boyfriend in her arms. Her boyfriend. In her mother's arms. He had even nuzzled himself into the crook of her shoulder. The bastard! But then Korra's logical self caught up with her, holding her back before she launched herself forwards and did... _something_. The scene's accompanying details were belatedly noticed by her bulging eyes.

Her boyfriend and mother were wrapped up tightly in the long, thick quilt that had been stripped off the bed. The smooth curves of their shoulders were bare, just poking out above the edge of the bearskin. Korra could glimpse the smooth plane of his chest from where she was standing, pressed up against her mother's. Then she realised the most important detail.

Mako was shivering. Hard.

"What's happened here, Senna?" her father asked from behind her, speaking where she could not.

"Yeah…" Bolin said weakly afterwards, and nothing more despite trying.

"Your brother is lucky to still be alive," Senna said in answer to the latter, though her sharp tone seemed to be directed at the boy in her embrace.

"What happened?" Korra said, feeling strangely numb as she looked on. She felt like she had been punched in the stomach.

"He turned up just minutes before you did, trembling for the cold and looking about ready to die on his feet," her mother replied.

Still it didn't quite sink in, or make sense.

"Why are you both naked?"

Senna cast a distracted look her way as a particularly strong tremor shook through Mako. His lips were practically devoid of colour. She adjusted her arms around him.

"Body heat, Korra. Surely I don't need to explain that to you."

She scoffed suddenly, not quite understanding where the reaction had derived from. But Korra could feel something cold and hard twist in her gut as she looked at the two of them. In that single moment, she was pitiless for Mako's condition.

"He's a firebender. He could warm up himself if he really wanted to, couldn't you Mako? Besides, no one told you to walk out into a blizzard like an absolute –"

Senna's eyes flashed, pinning her with an impatient glare.

"He has not known the South Pole all his life as you have," she snapped. "Are you really going to be so petty, child? The blizzard froze him to within an inch of his life and I'm trying to keep him warm and more importantly, _alive_."

It had been years since her mother had directed that harsh, scolding tone at her. Korra's lips were suddenly pressed tightly shut, her eyes sliding away from Senna's hard gaze. They found Mako's instead, the firebender looking up and making an effort to curve his pale, trembling lips reassuringly for her. Whatever she was feeling that filled her with icy suspicion was swept away by real concern as she fully realised the state of her boyfriend's condition.

"What can we do to help, ma'am?" Bolin spoke as shame rose to give heat to her cheeks.

"Help Korra make some cocoa for your brother. Tonraq," Senna said then, finally addressing her husband, "could you bring in the quilts from the other room?"

The big man nodded, though Korra didn't see it. Her gaze lingered upon Mako, mouth downturned as he tried to smile at her again before Bolin tugged lightly on her arm.

"I'll look after him," her mother said gently. Korra swallowed and then nodded, turning to lead the way quickly towards the kitchen.

That left Senna and her charge alone for a precious moment. She glanced towards the doorway cautiously before leaning in to chastely kiss his shivering lips.

"I'm sorry," she murmured softly.

Thinking swiftly, Senna had wrapped Mako's upper body in a spinning, watery cocoon, afterwards hurriedly but carefully lowering his core temperature with icy torrents of water. As he gasped sharply and began trembling, she quickly unravelled the cocoon and pulled him into her arms. That had been not seconds before her husband had forced open the front door in a fierce gust of wind. She was wrapping the quilt around them both as tightly as she could when he called out for her.

"Y-y-you o-owe m-mmme," he whispered back.

Her smile twinkled in her eyes. "I like the sound of that."


End file.
